Obama to return 5 percent of his pay to Treasury

4/3/13 2:55 PM EDT

President Obama will write checks back to the Treasury equal to five percent of his full annual salary in a sign of solidarity with government employees facing furloughs because of sequestration, an administration official said.

"The salary for the president, as with members of Congress, is set by law and cannot be changed," the official said. "However, the president has decided that to share in the sacrifice being made by public servants across the federal government that are affected by the sequester, he will contribute a portion of his salary back to the Treasury."

Hours later, White House press secretary Jay Carney issued the statement via a pool report and added that Obama "instructed his staff he wanted to do this when the sequester took effect."

The announcement that the president send some of his pay back to the Treasury follows the Pentagon's announcement Tuesday that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will do the same. One of his deputies, Ash Carter, has also committed to write checks back to the government.

Obama plans to write checks to Treasury on a monthly basis, effective March 1, but will cut the first check in April. In all, Obama will contribute five percent of his $400,000 salary, $20,000.

POLITICO canvassed several Cabinet agencies on Tuesday -- with a focus on departments led by secretaries who had been outspoken on the potential effects of sequestration on their departments -- and got on-the-record answers from just two, the Departments of Education and of Health and Human Services. Spokespeople for both departments said that since their employees have not yet been furloughed, their secretaries were not yet giving up pay.